Clean TeQ / Ionic to Form Water JV

After extensive testing and development work, Clean TeQ has formally notified Ionic of its intention to exercise its option to form a Joint Venture to progress the commercialization of graphene-based water treatment technologies

We are excited to announce that our partner in water treatment R&D, Clean TeQ has formally notified us of its intention to form a joint venture (JV Co) with us for the commercialisation of our graphene-based water treatment technologies.

Over the past 18 months, Clean TeQ and Ionic have undertaken an extensive program of work together with Monash University to develop, manufacture and apply graphene oxide membranes for water filtration applications.

Through this program of work, Clean TeQ and Ionic have successfully developed a process to manufacture high purity graphene oxide that can be applied to a membrane support to create a highly efficient graphene nanofiltration membrane (GO-Membrane). Significantly, the GO-Membrane manufacturing process has been demonstrated on commercial scale industrial equipment.

Clean TeQ has now exercised their option under our previous contractual agreement to form JV Co. JV Co will be focused on achieving commercial scale production of graphene oxide and GO-Membranes, as well as water purification modules targeted at wholesale and retail customers. Clean TeQ’s founder and Chief Technology Officer, Peter Voigt describes the opportunity:

Through the use of advanced materials, like graphene oxide, we have an opportunity to significantly improve and grow the membrane water filtration market. Graphene’s amazing properties provide a window into a new world of water recovery and reuse.

Freshwater scarcity and the move to water reuse is driving growth in the water membrane filtration market and in spiral membranes such as reverse osmosis and nanofiltration. The spiral membrane market is estimated at USD 5 billion in 2018 and is expected to grow to USD 8 billion by 2023. The major constraint to growth is the high operating costs for the end user. The development of a cost-effective graphene-oxide (GO) membrane could displace a large proportion of the existing reverse osmosis and nanofiltration membrane technologies as well as creating opportunities for new water filtration applications.

Graphene oxide-based membranes have the potential to deliver significant benefits due to their high water flux, tunability and non-fouling properties. The advantages of the membranes over existing commercially available membrane technologies include lower cost, increased flow, better water recovery and lower energy costs.

Following Clean TeQ’s formal notification, we will now get to work on the process of forming the JV company and progressing the testing, development and commercialization of graphene oxide and GO membranes, as well as water purification modules targeted at wholesale and retail customers. The joint venture with Ionic will be structured as a newly incorporated joint venture owned 75% by Clean TeQ and 25% by Ionic.

This progress represents a major milestone for Ionic. It demonstrates that our graphene technology is attracting the attention of major industry players and corporations and that it has potential applications in some of the largest and most significant global markets. It shows where our first revenues will likely come from and it highlights that we have a rare and valuable capability in bringing advanced technologies out of the university research environment and into commercial reality. This is our first major step on the road to commercialising graphene technologies in an enormous range of applications and global markets.